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"God Wants to Show Through You!"
Pr. Paul Swartz - February 2 & 3, 2008
Do you remember how fascinating and fun transparency books were?
Especially the grizzly and gross ones! So of course, those that showed what lay inside the human body were really great! Those books, with their series of clear pages that overlaid one on top of another—adding the veins, the arteries, the muscles, the internal organs the nervous system—revealed a hidden world to curious kids.
Now there are moving, revolving, 3-D images kids can call up on the family computer; images that are much more accurate and representative. But the act of piling up or peeling away those transparency pages still fascinates young children. There's something about being able to slowly strip away the skin, the muscles, the various systems that work so perfectly together within the body, that remains riveting. It's like getting a secret peek at a collection of hidden miracles.
The human fascination with getting a glimpse of that which is usually kept out of sight is part of the power of the Transfiguration. Only a chosen few were privileged to witness the Transfiguration.
Of the various versions of what occurred on that secluded hilltop, the account in Peter’s Second Letter for today is unique. It describes the Transfiguration from a different place in time. With the clarity of hindsight and the experience of Jesus' miraculous Resurrection and Ascension to inform him, Peter uses the Transfiguration as an example to doubters and scoffers.
Because of this sneak peek at Jesus' divinity, this porthole window into Jesus' majesty, Peter and his disciple colleagues could look back over Jesus life, death, and resurrection and understand who they'd served and what Jesus had done for all of creation. Looking back at the Transfiguration, Peter could point to the moment when the lamp of divine glory began to illuminate this darkened, sin-soaked world.
The testimony Peter and his companions were preaching to others was not just yet another myth, another secret way to sidestep the dreariness of day-to-day existence.
· They had seen the majestic glory of God.
· They had heard the divine voice from heaven saying, "This is My Son, My Beloved."
· They had glimpsed the glory of Jesus while He still walked among them on this earth.
This truth shot a light so bright, so dazzlingly beautiful into their minds and hearts and spirit that they themselves were forever transformed and transfigured. It was, as Peter described, "As though the brilliance of the morning star itself had been captured within their hearts."
There is an old story about a little girl coming from the church and questioning her mom about the sermon.
"Did the preacher really say God is bigger than we are?"
"Yes," her mother replied.
"Did the preacher really say Jesus lives in us?"
"Yes," her mother stated once again.
| "Well, then, if God is bigger than we are and God lives in us, why doesn't he show through?"
The God who shows through is what Peter called his listeners to be attentive to. The Transfiguration was that lamp shining in a dark place, that peek-a-boo of divine glory that shows forth now at unexpected moments and from unexpected places. The Transfiguration is when the glory is revealed, when the world-saving value of Jesus was made clear, when the world-shaking value of your life is made clear.
The Christ that dwells within each of us gleams with the Light of Glory. But we have to peel away some of our protective layers if we would let that Light shine out from our souls and into the world.
No matter how dark the night we find ourselves in, disciples of Jesus know that the future's so bright, we gotta wear shades. Christ came to live His resurrected life in us! The Glory of Christ's presence and power can illuminate the world and that glory will make the glory of the Super Bowl Champs pale by comparison! Will we let it shine through us?
The Transfiguration event took place on a high hilltop, a place that Peter redefines as a holy mountain. But Jesus and His disciples had to cover a lot of terrain before they ascended to that lofty place and bathed in the Light of God's glory. There were a lot of dark, foreboding places, a lot of dismal open spaces, a lot of darkened corners to pass through.Before the Light shone on Jesus, He had to
· Endure forty days and nights in a desert of desolation;
· Cross and re-cross the murky waters of the Jordan;
· Wander through a wilderness to find His crazy cousin, His prophetic announcer, His baptizer;
· Perch on a high place faced with great temptations and get safely down and away from His tempter;
· Return to His hometown and face rejection and rebuff; and,
· Stand upright in stormy and tumultuous seas.
The geography of Jesus' life, and His disciples' journeys with Him, was not made up of fair plains, jaunts through pleasant green pastures, and mountain-top triumphs.
You don't get to your Mount of Transfiguration without first going through a mount of temptation. You don't get to your Mount of Transfiguration without first going through a valley of rejection and betrayal. You don't get to your mount of transfiguration without first relinquishing control to a Spirit driven life that is open and receptive to divine guidance.
The Glory within Jesus was ever present, ever protective, and ever prepared to peek out and reveal itself to those with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that would open up to faith.Are you prepared to peel away a few of the transparencies that layer protectively upon your heart and soul? Will you risk exposing your inner self so that others may see the Light of Christ's Glory, so that you can add to the candlepower of God's Glory on this earth?
Nelson Mandela, in his inaugural speech in 1994, had this to say: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It's our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
"You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. You are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. "And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others the permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." One of the greatest living writers in the world today is Oscar Hijuelos. In his classic Mr. Ives' Christmas, Hijuelos writes of one of his characters: "Each day he awaited a slick of light to enter the darkness".
There is a world out there looking for some light “slicks.” Will you let your light shine? Will you be a “slick of light” that brightens the corner where you are, and at the same time brings light to the world?
Now quietly, close your eyes. Relax. Put yourself in the place of Peter, James, or John on the Mount seeing Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus, and in the cloud of Glory, hearing the Words of the Father speaking to you: “This is My Son…Listen to Him!” What is your response? You are alone. You still yourself. You clear your usual mental clutter. You are still to hear from God. Can you sense what Jesus is saying to you? Are you willing to listen and let it soak in? Imagine how your life would be different if you took time to be still, discovering how significant you are in His sight, and how encouraging it is to live allowing God to show through you because you walk in the Light of Christ, following Jesus and His ways! Then picture yourself affirming: “So that’s Your vision for me… a life transformed by listening to Jesus! …a life that bears light, walking across the room to bring light into the life of another!” Amen!
Let us join in singing, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine!”
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